IOgear is pretty psyched about wireless livestock tracking, though. How psyched? Majorly psyched. So psyched that they sent out a press release (which unfortunately did not contain the word “psyched”).
Now, tracking livestock is pretty important. Not only can it help you control the proliferation of livestock-born diseases (like everybody’s favorite, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy !), but it’s also crucial in the fight against agro-terrorism. That’s why IOgear has partnered with Optibrand, the Microsoft of livestock retinal scanning, to create a wireless system whereby farmers can scan an animal’s retina and send it wirelessly to a file server up to 330 feet away.
I’ve got to wonder how much animals like having their retina scanned. How does one convince a several hundred pound cow to stand still long enough for you to shoot a laser in its eye? And, more importantly, how does one then one run away before being trampled to death?
Man, my last exposure to life on the farm was reading Farmer Boy when I was like 12. It seems things have changed a wee bit. Who knew?
[hat tip: Dan Frakes]